Build A Canoe

Have you ever wanted to build your own canoe? Calvert Marine Museum is now offering the chance to build a 16-foot wooden canoe to fit your schedule. With the “Build a Canoe by Appointment” program, you provide us with two consecutive days and we will put you on the calendar.

Invite your family or friends to join in the fun of building your very own 16-foot wooden canoe. With simple hand tools and guidance from experienced instructors, your canoe and paddles will be assembled and ready to paint at the end of the second day.

A fee of $650 for CMM members and $700 for non-members includes all materials necessary to complete one canoe and paddles, except paint. No experience necessary! Children ten years and up are welcome in the company of an adult. Hours of the class are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Would you rather have a 12-foot rowing skiff?

Calvert Marine Museum also offers a similar class in building a 12-foot rowing skiff. The cost for the skiff is $1,000 for members and $1,050 for non-members. For an additional $850 you can have a sailing version, including sail, spars, daggerboard, and rudder.

Financial assistance is available to qualified applicants from the Melvin Conant Memorial Youth Fund. The Fund was established in 2004 to encourage young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to participate in programs offered by the Calvert Marine Museum’s Patuxent Small Craft Center.

Early Chesapeake Single-Log Canoes: A Brief History and Introduction to Building Techniques. By Alexander Lavish and George Surgent of the Patuxent Small Craft Guild. Out of print. Click here to download a copy.